Fight ends in one man burning to death

San Antonio police investigate Friday October 11, 2013 at a scene on the 1900 block of Mauermann Road on the city's South Side where a man allegedly doused another man with gasoline and set him on fire. Police said the two men got into an argument about 6:30 a.m. Friday morning when the incident took place and the victim's wife drove him to a nearby convenience store to get help. The victim was reportedly taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center and is in critical condition. Police said the alleged perpetrator then later set a structure on fire at the property.

Photo By JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

San Antonio police investigate Friday October 11, 2013 at a scene on the 1900 block of Mauermann Road on the city's South Side where a man allegedly doused another man with gasoline and set him on fire. Police said the two men got into an argument about 6:30 a.m. Friday morning when the incident took place and the victim's wife drove him to a nearby convenience store to get help. The victim was reportedly taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center and is in critical condition. Police said the alleged perpetrator then later set a structure on fire at the property.

Photo By JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

San Antonio police Chief William McManus (left, center) checks his phone Friday October 11, 2013 at a scene on the 1900 block of Mauermann Road on the city's South Side where a man allegedly doused another man with gasoline and set him on fire. Police said the two men got into an argument about 6:30 a.m. Friday morning when the incident took place and the victim's wife drove him to a nearby convenience store to get help. The victim was reportedly taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center and is in critical condition. The alleged perpetrator then reportedly set a structure on fire at the property.

An early morning fight between two middle-aged men who supposedly were friends resulted in one man being set on fire, two structures being burned, a car crash, one combatant hospitalized and the other dead Friday.

Police said the two were fighting in a rural South Side area in the 1900 block of Mauermann Road when one man doused the other in gasoline and set him on fire. Authorities did not release their names.

The burned man died Friday evening, according to a relative who requested his name not be published. His wife initially transported him to a nearby gas station and he was then taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center in critical condition with burns over 80 percent to 90 percent of his body, Police Chief William McManus said.

Authorities said the friend set fire to the victim's RV before attempting to flee. The fire later spread to a nearby structure, the Fire Department reported.

As firefighters called at about 6:30 a.m. worked to put out the flames, they realized it was part of an attack and alerted other agencies to treat it as a crime scene.

After setting fire to the RV, the man attempted to flee but crashed his truck into a “ditch or quarry,” McManus said.

Police found him, injured and burned as well, McManus said. He was flown by AirLife to SAMMC for treatment.

Officers were trying to uncover a motive for the attack.

McManus emphasized that the hospitalized suspect would face charges, which could range from aggravated assault to attempted murder, but no charges had been filed as of Friday afternoon.

One of several workers at the fire scene, which belongs to David Freisenhahn Trucking, described it as a “sand pit company.”

He declined to be named to avoid getting in trouble with his employer.

The worker said both men involved in the fight were employees of the company, but didn't name them.
dpalacio@express-news.net